Egypt: Islamists and opposition fight in Alexandria

Islamists and secularist opposition forces fought pitched battles on the
streets of Egypt's second city, Alexandria, on Friday on the eve of a
decisive second round of a referendum that will decide the country's
constitutional future.

At least six people were reported hurt as the two sides threw rocks at each other when followers of Egypt's Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, staged a mass rally outside Alexandria's Qaed Ibrahim mosque to back his proposed constitution.

Riot police fired tear gas and tried to keep the two sides apart in an effort to avoid the deadly violence that has marked some recent clashes and plunged Egypt into its worst unrest since last year's mass protests that overthrew the former president, Hosni Mubarak.

The gathering had been called by the Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement in protest at a violent clash last week that saw rival factions attack each other with clubs, knives and swords, and led to an 87-year-old Salafist preacher, Sheik Ahmed el-Mahalawi, being trapped inside a mosque for 14 hours.

Friday's confrontation was the latest in a series of violent incidents since Mr Morsi last month awarded himself sweeping powers – later rescinded – and triggered a wave of opposition protests. The deadliest confrontations occurred outside Mr Morsi's presidential palace this month, when eight people were killed and hundreds injured.

The referendum has been divided into two rounds because many of the judges needed to oversee the voting have stayed away in protest at the president's decision to fast-track the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies but boycotted by liberals.

Last Saturday's first round of voting saw around 56 per cent vote in favour of the constitution, amid allegations of ballot fraud. The second round is expected to produce an even more emphatic yes vote because polling will take place in conservative rural areas.